I have 3 semis and I use them all more or less for plinking here
are some pros and cons.
Marlin 795 same as 700 except light barrel.
Very cheap especially now. Extremly accurate Ive got hole on hole groups
at 50 yrds. A friend of mine play kill the crickets with high power scopes in the summer at the range. Very compact and light weight. Feeds very well and have had very few jams. Some adjustment to the metal magazines might be needed. Only problem is the trigger seems a little heavy. I hear that can be adjusted though. Mine is scoped and is very reliable for hunting.
Accuracy is astounding. Not a lot of companies can do what marlin does it seems.
Remington 552 speed master
Easy to take apart and clean. Attractive styling. will shoot short long, LR.
No magazine to load, tube fed 15LR or 25shorts. Nice crisp trigger. Accuracy is decent. No real complaints great plinker. Only they can be a little expensive in new condition. I got mine used but see the new price as fair. They are really cool and require no after work.
Ruger 10/22 International.
Very fun very reliable. No jams yet. Good quality. very easy to clean.
Lots of fun to shot. I mean really really fun to shoot. I didnt understand all the hype untill i bought one. The ruger is my most recent purchase.
Ive also shot a stock model and didnt find the pull to bad. My buddy has never complained either. Although he hasnt shot mine yet. but the pull is about half.. My 10/22 has all new volsquarten internals but ive kept the stock barrel. Accuracy is also decent i find. On the range I can nail pop cans with it at 50 yrds. Most people seem overly critical about them. My friend who i mentioned has never had any complaints on accuracy. So for small game and general plinking you will be happy. Ive got see through mounts so i take advantage of iron sights and a scope. Dont have any complaints since i bought mine as a kit essentially finnished the way i want it anyways. If it not for all the 25 plus mags and customablitity I probably would have stuck with the other two. Also the international stock is kick ass. Dont know why it went out of production. I always thought rugers were soooo ugly. I like wood.
Just so you know if you like semi auto 22 you will probably buy a 10/22.
Some day.
One more thing though. If you dont like loading magazines tube fed will be the way to go. I can load all 15 rounds of the 552 in about 15 seconds. If you dont mind get a clip fed. You might also want to look into a marlin model 60.
Of all three rifles ive got I would say they are all equally good it just depends on preference.
